by M. K. Eidem
“I… that never occurred to me.” Dai frowned. Why would the Wing need to be cleared.
“Of course not. Your mind was on security and safety.”
“Yes, Lady Rigel.” Dai agreed.
“Which leads me to why I am here.” Abby continued.
“Yes, Lady Rigel?” Dai asked.
“I want to know which one of you was the idiot,” Abby’s soft, gentle voice turned as hard as her eyes shocking the Emperor's warriors, “that thought dropping Mabon off in his old dorm would be a good thing?!!”
“What?!!” Korin’s exclamation had Abby’s gaze turning to him and she realized he hadn’t known his brother was here.
“You didn’t know…” she whispered her eyes moving to Ynyr suddenly remembered Korin had not been in the room when he had selected the trainees to assist his Abby.
“NO! No! Mabon is not here. King Grim promised he would be removed, that he would be protected.”
“And he was,” Abby told him, “from what I’ve been told he just disappeared one night.”
“Our Lady speaks truth Captain Korin.” Paganus spoke for the first time since entering the room. “I was here when Mabon disappeared from his bed several weeks ago. No one knew how or where he went. His Handler, trainee Quant was severely… disciplined…” Paganus chose his word carefully as he glanced at Abby, “for it.”
“Then how did he end up back here!” Korin demanded.
“Because I ordered it.” Dai spoke up, looking at Korin. “When I was informed you would be returning to Etruria, I contacted the Warrior that was housing him and had him returned. He belongs with his brother.”
“I totally agree Captain Dai.” Abby responded before Korin could. “Mabon does belong with his brother. What I don’t understand is that with the knowledge you had about how the males remaining in this House, about how they had been trained, about how they were taught to ‘succeed’… how could you possibly think Mabon would remain safe and unharmed in a dorm filled with those trainees?”
“I…” Dai began.
“He was harmed?” Korin’s broke in, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the hilt of his sword.
“He was beaten,” Abby told him bluntly, “and it seems there is no longer a Healer here.”
“What?” This time it was Ynyr’s eyes that shot to Dai. “I was not informed of this!” No Healer? He had brought his Abby to a place without a Healer?
“He died on the Assembly floor Lord Ynyr. Apologies. I thought you knew.” Dai told him stiffly.
“Oh, it gets better Ynyr.” Abby said, pulling Ynyr’s gaze from the Captain. “It seems Bertos only allowed his Captains to learn how to use the portable repair unit.”
“What! That is totally irresponsible!” Ynyr exclaimed.
“But it gave his Captains a great deal of power over the trainees.” Paganus told him quietly. “A Captain would withhold healing an injury if he felt the trainee had not trained hard enough or if…”
“He was just being an asshole.” Abby finished for him.
“Yes, my Lady.” Paganus said nodding to her slightly.
“So Mabon is untreated?” Korin demanded, bringing the conversation back to what mattered to him, his brother.
“No.” Abby told him. “I had Morio treat him as soon as I saw he was injured.” Abby could see he was still concerned. “He is going to be fine Korin.” She tried to reassure him and saw his grip relax on his sword as he nodded jerkily to her.
“It is unfortunate that he was injured and it is good that he was healed but I do not understand why you felt this needed to be brought to the attention of your Lord. Mabon is but a male and a new trainee at that.”
Abby turned shocked eyes to Dai unable to believe he had just said that and she wasn’t the only one.
“You do not consider it your responsibility Captain Dai to see to it that those under your command are treated properly?” Ynyr’s softly worded question didn’t fool Abby, he was furious.
“Of course I do!” Dai instantly denied. “Never have I failed in my duties to my brothers-in-arms!”
“Brothers-in-arms.” Abby’s quietly spoken words had every male looking at her as her gaze ran over them. “You are all ‘brothers-in-arms’.” Her statement was met with nods. “None of you have a ‘blood brother’?”
“No.” Dai answered for them all, his eyes hard.
Abby thought back to Wray’s words in the Assembly when he had told Ynyr why he had chosen him for Etruria. One of them had been because Ynyr would understand what the warriors under Bertos had to endure in the protection of their brothers. It seemed Captain Dai did not.
“So you have no understanding… or empathy for the position Captain Korin was in when it came to his blood brother do you Captain Dai.” She asked.
“He did not have to continue to serve Bertos. He could have left at any time taking his brother with him. He did not.”
“No, he didn’t.” Abby looked from Korin to Ynyr and could see that while Ynyr didn’t agree with how Dai had handled Mabon, he too was wondering why Korin had not just left Bertos’ service but he didn’t ask.
‘Males’, Abby thought, ‘it was like asking for directions. Sometimes they were too stubborn to ask.’ So she would.
“Why did you stay Korin?” Abby asked with no censure in her voice. “Was it for the prestige?”
“No! I had planned on leaving when my required service was done…”
“But?” Abby pressed.
“My manno met the Goddess before my service was completed.”
“I’m sorry.” Abby told him softly. “How long ago was that?”
“Over five years now. I was in my last year of service to Bertos.”
“Five years… Galal was killed five years ago too, Lotem’s blood brother.”
“Yes.” Korin gave her a startled look, surprised she would have known of Galal. “He and my manno met the Goddess during the same battle. Lotem’s manno was gravely injured. How did you know about Galal?”
“Lotem told me,” she said absently, not realizing she had again stunned the males. “So Lotem still had his manno but Mabon only had you so he came here.”
“Not at first.” Korin replied in a tight voice. “At first Lord Bertos refused to allow him.”
“What!” Ynyr exclaimed, looking at him in shock. “Why the Goddess would he do that!”
“Lord Bertos claimed Mabon would be an unnecessary drain on the Houses resources and that he could not afford it… not when I would be leaving his service in six moons.” Korin told him stiffly.
“Then you should have allowed Mabon to be sent to Gehenna.” Dai spat out glaring at Korin. “You could have then completed your obligation and retained your honor!”
“Never!” Korin took a threatening step toward Dai gripping his sword, the Captain gripping his own in response. The other males all took a hasty step back. “Never would I allow Mabon to be sent to such a place!”
“ENOUGH!” Ynyr roared causing Abby to jolt in her seat. “You will both stand down or I will put you down! Is that understood?!!”
Abby had never heard Ynyr use such a tone before. It wasn’t the soft, caring tone he always used with and around her. It was hard. It was deadly. It let you know that he was the one in command here and that if you did not obey him, you would suffer… greatly. It was a Lord’s voice. Her Lord’s.
Slowly both males obeyed, their hands moving from their swords, but they continued to glare at one another, their muscles ready for battle.
“What is Gehenna?” Abby asked.
The soft female voice had every male head jerking towards it as they suddenly remembered her presence. Goddess there had nearly been a battle… before a female!
She was going to be distraught!
She would be in need of calming!
They had no Healer!
What were they to do?
These were the thoughts that raced through the mind of every male as they turned, only to be shocked to find
Abby only staring at them intently.
Ynyr wasn’t shocked for while he had seen her jolt at his harsh tone he knew she would not fall apart because of it or because of a disagreement between warriors. She was made of stronger stuff than that and soon these males would know it too.
“What is Gehenna?” She asked again looking up at Ynyr not realizing every males’ gaze was following the graceful curve of her neck.
“It is an area on the moon Ijiraq were young males are sent when there is no one willing to assume responsibility for them.”
“But…” Abby gave him a confused look.
“Gehenna is a place for the abandoned and the unfit.” Korin informed her. “Mabon is neither.”
“Of course he isn’t, he has you.” Abby agreed looking to Korin. “A brother who would obviously go to great lengths to protect him and to see to his welfare. I can understand why you wouldn’t want him to go to such a place. What I can’t understand is why another male couldn’t just watch over him until your service was completed.”
“What?” Korin gave her a confused look.
“At the Joining Ceremony it was said that a male’s brother would assume the responsibility for a young male if his manno died. Doesn’t that include his ‘brothers-in-arms’?”
“Only if there is no blood relative. If a blood relative is alive, he must assume responsibility or the male goes to Gehenna.”
“And you were the only blood relative.” Abby said.
“Yes.” Korin told her.
“So what did Bertos demand before he would ‘allow’ Mabon to come here.” Abby asked.
“All my service and the guarantee that Mabon would also train here.” Korin admitted stiffly.
“What?” Dai asked unable to hide his shock.
“What else?” Abby asked softly for she knew that with a male like Bertos there had to be more.
“That if I ever failed or betrayed him, he would personally send Mabon to the Goddess, in small pieces.”
“And yet you still helped the Queen of Luda.” Ynyr said quietly now understanding the position Korin had found himself in.
“Females are the most valuable thing in all the known universes.” Korin told him. “They must always be protected even it costs a male his life.”
“But the cost wasn’t going to be your life. It was going to be Mabon’s.” Ynyr said and wondered if he could have done the same. If it had been Zev’s life… or any of his brothers’ lives that had hung in the balance.
“I could do nothing else. What little honor I had left would not allow it.” Korin said.
The snort of disbelief had Abby looking to see where it came from. “You have something you wish to say Captain Dai?” She asked in a deceptively soft voice.
“He has already admitted that females are more valuable than males. If he had wanted to keep his ‘honor’ he should have sent his brother to Gehenna and reported what he knew about Bertos to the Emperor.”
“I knew nothing then!” Korin told Dai angrily. “It was only later….”
“After Mabon was already here.” Abby finished for him.
“Yes!” Korin’s eyes shot back to Abby surprised to see… understanding in her eyes. “Before that I was never allowed into this room.” His eyes traveled around the room that held so many bad memories for him.
“I have talked to Mabon,” Abby told Korin quietly. “For someone who has spent his last five years here he seems to have suffered no ill effects.”
“That is because I refused to allow him to be housed within these walls. There is an old warrior in the village that agreed to see to his needs.”
“And what did that cost you?” Abby asked quietly.
“Nearly all my monthly allotment of credits.” Korin told her.
“But by doing that you will never be able to attract a female.” Tocho’s voice was quiet but you could hear the faintest hint of respect in it.
“No, but one day Mabon might.” Korin told him.
“After what you have done?!!” Dai exclaimed in disgust. “Never! Your bloodline will end in disgrace!”
“And just what has he done Captain Dai,” Abby slapped her hands down on the top of the desk bringing every eye to her. “But do his best to keep an innocent safe, when no one else would? Even when it cost him his honor, he still protected.”
“He allowed a female to be abused!” Dai argued back.
“And you allowed his brother to be!” Abby countered “Where is your honor Captain Dai! You ordered Mabon’s return knowing full well what could happen to him here and you left him unprotected!”
“It is not the same thing!” Dai shouted leaning over the desk at her.
“No it's not!” Abby agreed slowly rising from her chair to lean across the desk to bring herself closer to Dai. “Korin was protecting an innocent! Two innocents! Mabon and Lisa! While you…” Abby’s voice was now as lethal as Ynyr’s had been earlier. “You chose to look the other way, allowing an innocent to be abused, just as those that assisted Emperor Lucan did when he abused his young females.”
Silence reigned in the room, every male holding his breath as they waited to see how Dai would respond to Abby’s insult.
Ynyr wasn’t. He had allowed his Abby to have her say… and had she said it. But he would not allow this to go on any longer.
“Captain Dai you will step back from my Lady.” Ynyr growled, nudging Abby gently back from the desk with his hip as Dai continued to glare at Abby. Putting himself between her and the enraged Tornian male. “Captain!” He snapped.
Without a word Dai pushed himself away from the desk, spun on his heel and stormed out of the command center.
Abby pressed a trembling hand against Ynyr’s back as she all but fell back into the chair, her legs no longer able to support her. What was that? Where had that come from? She didn’t stand up to people. Especially not really large, angry males. But she had… just like she had stood up to Ynyr’s family. She didn’t know when she had changed but it felt good.
Cautiously she looked up at Ynyr wondering how badly she had upset him. First she’d barged into his command center unannounced and then she had yelled at the Captain of the Emperor’s Special Guard, the male Wray had sent to assist Ynyr. Goddess what else could she screw up and she had only been here two hours.
What she found was that while Ynyr’s expression remained stern his eyes were filled with admiration and… pride. In her? Abby couldn’t believe it. No one had ever been proud of her… well, except for her parents… that Ynyr was soothed an old hurt she didn’t know she still had. That was when she realized what had changed… Ynyr was in her life and she didn’t need to hide and be small anymore.
Still, she needed to apologize.
“Ynyr…”
A finger across her lips gently silenced her. “I have never seen anyone stand up to Dai that way. He is considered one of the fiercest Captains in all the Empire. Males quake before his rage and yet you stood up to him.”
“He was wrong in what he did and what he said.”
“He was.” Leaning down, he gave her a gentle kiss. “Thank you for informing me of this. I will take care of it.” Straightening his gaze hardened. “But do not do it again!”
“What?” Abby looked up at him in shock.
“I am not yet confident that the House is secure. I need you to stay in our Wing until it is. One male is not enough to ensure your safety. Do you understand?”
“Yes Ynyr.”
“You have a Comm. Use it.”
“Alright. I should get back. The rest of the males should be there by now.”
“Rest of the males? What do you mean ‘rest of the males’? I gave very specific orders…” His eyes shot to Paganus.
“And they are being followed. Only the males you approved are being allowed in our Wing, well, minus Quant. Morio and Navon found him unsuitable.” Abby ignored Paganus’ raised eyebrow. “They are moving the furniture out of the Wing and the other males will carry the pieces to wher
e they are going to be stored.”
Ynyr paused and gave her a considering look. “That is very…”
“Logical?” Abby shook her head at him. “As I told Navon earlier females can be… when we want to be.”
“If you say so my Abby.” Ynyr said neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Stepping back, he held out his hand to help her rise and led her around the desk. As they passed Korin, who was still struggling with his rage, she paused.
“Would it be alright if Korin escorted me back to our Wing along with Paganus?” she asked and at Ynyr’s frown, she hurried on. “You said one male was not enough and Korin is familiar with the House…”
Ynyr looked at her for a moment, then realized what his Abby was doing. She had realized that Korin needed to see for himself. Needed to see that his brother was truly fine before he would calm. Ynyr would have been the same way if it was one of his brothers. But by suggesting it was for her benefit she was saving Korin’s pride. She was amazing.
“Korin, you and Paganus will escort my Lady back to the Lord’s Wing. I expect you to meet up with us in thirty minutes. We will be inspecting the defenses on the exterior walls. Is that understood?”
“Yes, my Lord.” Korin quickly responded.
Chapter Sixteen
Abby sighed as she looked out at the dark landscape barely discernable by the sliver of light that the Tornian moon was giving off, God’s toe nail, that’s what her dad always called it. Turning away from the window her gaze traveled over the equally dark room behind her its only light was coming from the fire Paganus had made for her before he left.
She smiled slightly as she thought about how Paganus had protested leaving. Ynyr had yet to return and Paganus was concerned with leaving her alone, especially when he discovered she had no clue how to start or tend a fire. Apparently that was unheard of on Tornian even for a female. So with a detailed demonstration of how to properly stack the logs, ones she knew she would never be able to lift, into the oversized fireplace. Paganus then placed smaller pieces of wood on top of the larger ones and had then taken a box from the mantle above the fireplace. Inside, he showed her what he called ‘lighting stones’. He pulled two out, rubbed them together until they glowed, then dropped them on top of the wood. He had cautioned her that once they started to glow she needed to get them out of her hands or they would burn her. In moments there was a roaring fire in the room.